Moritz

CDU einen Tag nach der Wahlniederlage in a nutshell

Took forever to make (next to a dayjob and various kids birthdays), but it feels most “complete”: Split Flap Electronics Beyond Prototypes (WiFi, OTA Updates, Web UI) youtu.be/t6H5oJXUC50

One of the parts I’m rather proud of: back panel cabeling. Video on the topic: Are PCBs the better Cables - or how to wire (or not) a Split Flap display. youtu.be/buj64WHyjjs

My latest video has a 100 views. Slowly saying goodbye to that Dayjob!

Figured I might also ship some code: play.flipforward.de Probably the best „digital“ split flap display out there. With sound.

Oh this is gonna be fun.

There’s a lot of „imposter syndrome“ in all of this, a lot of being clearly outside of my comfort zone, outside of my normal domain. Makes me even prouder to have my first “talk over” video done: What a Split Flap PCB Assembly Actually Looks Like at Home: A walkthrough. youtu.be/7dRwp-hMpvc

Dazu….joa… Sehr dünn (Aus der Sendung www.ardmediathek.de/video/zur-sa...)

Came up with this idea of writing more blog posts and being a little less self critical in the process. That also means "going out there" more, but since I average around 5 reader per week, that's still a very safe thing to do. Proud of this one: blog.flipforward.de/2026/01/28/t...

It’s like taking a floppy disk and a SSD for a walk. Just not the same pace.

Favorite slomo.

The only test is testing it forever. Wrote about endurance testing split flap modules: blog.flipforward.de/2026/01/19/e....

Hey, if you’re looking for someone with experience in meticulously designing a PCB to notice after everything is done that it won’t fit with the hardware constraints? Happy to chat 😀

My favourite city in Asia is Düsseldorf.

Düsseldorf always delivers.

I still insist that there’s no better way to travel than on a train.

Every once in a while I take the train to “the office” in Düsseldorf. Not a single time has this thing been on time, and while the delays are not something that impact me, it’s mind blowing how casual a whole organisation can be in regards to quality. It just doesn’t matter.

Muss man sich ja vorstellen wie das wäre, wenn da jemand kommt und einfach den Merz entführt. …

So I got myself a new garmin, went for a run and fucking broke my foot. This has got to be the least lucky purchase I’ve ever made.

Just received an email that my Dutch F1 Sunday ticket got upgraded for the full weekend. I love free stuff.

This is such a mind blowing project! As a sidetone: You start to appreciate hardware projects so much more when you're building your own.

Also we’re back from Paris, that city just blows my mind every single time.

The thing with a first step is: you just have to do it. Posted something, might regret later: How to build a split flap display. #buildinpublic #splitflap #maker youtube.com/shorts/EPOdZ...

Spent the past few days recording footage of me assembling split flap displays, and I'm slowly running out of excuses for not publishing those. I've always looked forward to be able to "get real" and speak about what I'm doing, but frankly, right now I'm rather terrified. #buildinpublic

I think today is a firmware day, but I'm kind of holding my horses until my new DisplayLink-Dock arrives so I can finally use my M1 MBA with two displays (it's just how i work). While I enjoy using Windows for all things CAD, I'm way too locked in on Mac for anything software.

Also went to the pool for a 1.5k swim and … that was work at 14 degrees ❄️

Spent the day refining the target architecture for what I want to build. Always cool to see how much clarity „writing something down“ brings. Also LLMs for early feedback, really useful, but I do include a „never rewrite“ in my default prompt.

Today it’s for a bit of prototyping a project/startup idea. Not hardware, all software. Is it only me or does it feel extremely weird going back to coding with no LLM support?

Totally nailed it this morning by placing a 600€-order on JLCPCB. With a wrong component placement. Rockstar moment.

I’ve got 3 weeks between the old job and the new one - time for intense side project time!

After countless hours debugging my fine pitch soldering skills - the TMC just didn’t turn on - I figured that two zones on my PCB simply aren’t connected. And the embarrassing part is that the DRC very clearly stated that, I just didn’t notice.

Did my first 1k outdoor pool swim today - that was just good.

If I owned SpaceX I would just rebrand as a fireworks company

Pretty happy with the new connection board design that finally cleans up the backside of the displays. Interestingly I’m spending most time on stuff that I would have never thought I’d spend a lot of time on - but cable management is really a big topic, especially with 5+ displays.

teenage mutant bärensee turtles.

Nothing better than a fresh delivery from JLCPCB in the morning.

Sidequest Update: I now have a somewhat working x/y/z gantry. Out of some misguided sense for adventures, I designed all parts myself. That was more work than expected, but also more fun.

went on a ridiculous side quest and decided to build a little sorting/pick and place machine for my printed flaps. The problem is that I have roughly 500 packs of 43 flaps, but none of them are sorted. Admitted, it's probably faster to hand sort them than to build a machine for it but...

Went on vacation, found some time to blog about things I think about: software architects. blog.moritzhaarmann.de/software-arc...

They said thank you.